The kids are sleeping so I have time to update...

This is our bathroom remodel currently under repair. If you think this is gross, you should see the floor leading up to and including the vanity. I at least spared you that photo-Gross!

There was only a tiny leaky that had just started a few weeks ago that I thought should be taken care of. I had no idea what was lurking behind the shower surround, the floor trim and the sink.

A couple of firsts for Sydney, one being Pre-K and the other Ballet! She was excited to start school, but after we went to the open house, September ninth couldn't come fast enough. And of course when I go to pick her up and ask about her day, her reply was, " We had a snack." As I was walking out one of the teachers pulled me to the side and said, "Oh, just so you know when she was eating her pretzel she started choking and threw it up." I guess she was so excited about snack she forgot to chew! What is it about food at "other" places? I fed her lunch right before school and we have pretzels for a snack all the time and still that was her highlight.

Eleanor on the other hand wanted to stay too and cried the entire way home ( five minutes). Since it is a Preschool and not a day care they have to be fully potty trained. I am thinking that I can use that bit of info to my advantage as she is showing no interest to the point of resistance as of now for the toilet.

We have been asking Sydney for a while what she might be interested in doing- soccer, swimming, dancing. But for the most part it has been nothing. Until one day she comes up to me and tells me she wants to be a ballerina. She loves the outfits, which I think is why she became interested. And she is doing better and starting to remember her positions, as am I. Right there she is in first position doing a pliet ( ple-ay I have no idea how to spell it.)

This is Ivan at nine months. I know, skin and bones. He was 19 pounds ( 50th%) and 30 inches(95th%). I have figured out that Ivan's traits are a mosaic of features taken from great-gradpasrents. Tall and skinny-GGrandpa Davis, forhead-GGrandpa Goedde, bright blues-GGrandpa Romeo, cleft chin-GGrandpa Smith, wide smile/big mouth (he can stick his entire first in it)-GGrandma Knell (I am not sure she can fit her fist in, but she has a wide smile) That is what I can pintpoint for now. It has just been so fun comparing old photos and knowing where some these beautiful features popped up from. I love my little Romeo. This is Ivan around ten months. I have taken a super cheeser of both the girls when the four teeth have come in. His was a particularly difficult shot because while he does smile his top lip rarely curls back enough to see his pearly whites. In the end I had to take the photo from a lower vantage point. This is Eleanor July fourth, being 2 1/4 years old and having only one haircut. And that was nothing from the top just a couple snips to remove the mullet. I could take her whispies no more. So I got out the clippers! She now sports a pixie and as my sister and I were discussing just recently, you have to have a cute feminine face to pull it off. Now tell me can it get any cuter than this? What a doll. This is actually one of her best face photos as she usually gets all "focused" for the camera.